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Shorthanded Goals Doom Men’s Hockey In 3-2 Loss To St. Olaf

Cody Mosbeck and Sam Windsor battle for position as they head to the puck.

Eric Bigham scored his fourth goal of the season in the first period.

Spencer Campion looks up ice for an open skater.

Joe Welch on the power play

The Gustavus men’s hockey team allowed two short-handed goals in the third period as St. Olaf defeated the Gusties 3-2 on Saturday at All Seasons Arena in Mankato, Minn. Ole goaltender Nick Krauss kept St. Olaf in the contest, making 33 saves, until the Oles tallied two short-handed goals on consecutive Gustavus power plays to earn the series sweep. The Gusties dropped to 5-3-0 overall and 2-2-0 in the MIAC standings, while St. Olaf moved to 6-2-0 overall and 4-0-0 in the conference.

The tone of the game was set in the first minute of play as St. Olaf was called for its first of 11 penalties. Gustavus capitalized on the skater advantage as Eric Bigham (Jr., Robbinsdale, Minn.) put in a rebound off of a Mitch Carlson (So., St. Louis Park, Minn.) slap shot from the blue line at the 2:31 mark. Jamie Leathers (Jr., Prior Lake, Minn.) also earned an assist. Later in the period, the Oles had a golden opportunity to tie the score, but they were unable to score during a minute two-skater advantage. Neither team was able to generate any quality scoring chances during the remainder of the period. However, in the last minute of the period, Gustavus was called for two penalties, which carried over to the second period.

At the start of the new period, St. Olaf knotted the score at 1-1 when Isak Tranvik scored a power play goal with 21 seconds off of the clock. The score remained tied at 1-1 heading into the second intermission despite Gustavus having five power plays chances.

Rory Dynan (Jr., Maple Plain, Minn.) broke the tie at 2:41 in the third period with his fifth goal of the season on a wraparound that beat Krauss to give the Gusties a 2-1 lead. On the first Gustavus power play of the period, Tranvik found Dylan Mueller, who slipped behind a defenseman, for a breakaway chance against Gustie goaltender Matt Lopes. Mueller controlled the puck just long enough to get a backhand past Lopes to bring the score to 2-2 at the 7:11 mark. Minutes later, the Oles were charged with another penalty that resulted in the game-winning goal from Sam Windsor with 9:39 remaining. Gustavus pulled Lopes with 41 seconds left, but were unable to tie the game.

Both teams struggled on the power play as the Gusties were only one-for-10 and the Oles were one-for-eight. Gustavus outshot St. Olaf 35-11, but Nick Krauss posted 33 saves to keep the Oles in the game. Matt Lopes (Sr., East Falmouth, Mass.) had his first loss of the season after making eight saves and allowing three goals.

Gustavus returns to action on Friday, December 5 against Bethel at 7:05 p.m. in Blaine, Minn. The Gusties are slated to return home to Don Roberts Ice Rink on Saturday, December 6 to conclude the series against the Royals at 7:05 p.m.
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